American Airlines Admirals Club Chicago (ORD) H/K Gates | Video

Seating: Where sectioning of the seating is concerned, the American Airlines Admirals Club Chicago O’Hare near Terminal 3 H/K gates is designed to near-perfect Modhop specs. Sure the decor is an odd mix of mid 2000’s and art deco but the chairs are comfortable and nicely broken up into little sub-lounges. Even long rows of single lounge chairs are suitable for the antisocial thanks to their generous width.

Variety is good too. Boxy but cushy loungers dominate the space with even bigger, wider more leathery chairs peppered in. Cafe seating appears plentiful and is near a long work-bar style row of seats with plenty of outlets for working on the go.

Food/Drink: The complimentary options on this late evening visit were minimal with just a tray of picked-over cookies and yogurt pretzels and snack mix from gumball machine style dispensers. Admirals Club provides complimentary self-serve coffee and tea. Soda and drinks for grown-ups come from the full serve bar.

See our complete picture gallery of this American Airlines Admirals Club Chicago O’Hare (H/K gates).

Premium food is offered and can be ordered via the tablets placed throughout the lounge or in person at a counter near the bar. Morning options include breakfast sandwiches, while sandwiches and more savory items rule the rest of the day.

Wi-fi/Connectivity: Wi-fi struggled in the original far corner location we picked but seemed fine once we moved to a more common area.

Plugging-in isn’t as easy as we’d hope but if the lounge isn’t WAY too crowded, you should be able to find a spot to sit and charge your gear.

Service: Admirals Club front desk staff was warm and welcoming but inside staff gave us that “You know we’re closing in 40 minutes, right?” look. Luckily, timing of our next flight worked well with the staff’s desire to get home.

Showers: We had no use for showers on this quick domestic connection, but they’re available if you need them.

Summary: Crowded, we’d probably skip it. Big hub lounges can get pretty busy so this same space might be more of a nightmare on a Monday morning but our late visit meant we got a lot of space to ourselves. If Admirals Club staff isn’t giving you those “get OUT!” eyes you should find that that good seating, nicely arranged makes for a more personal and hopefully peaceful time away from the terminal.

Rating: 3 of 5

How to get in:  The Citi AA Executive World Elite Mastercard (which we later cancelled because of it’s hefty yearly fee) got us in with it’s Admirals Club benefit. If you’re not a regular Admirals Club visitor and just can’t take the gate chaos on a long delay, your best bet might be to pony up for a day-pass ($50 at time of this post).